I recently came across Mythras – and by extension, Runequest. I’m very intrigued by the character creation, character stats/skills, and especially combat. The consensus on Mythras seems to be that’s it’s very customizable. I’ve also seen Mythras and Runequest cited as good systems for swords-and-sorcery games.
So, for those who have actually played/run Mythras or Runequest, can it deliver the goods for S-&-S heroic combat where even a combat master like Conan is going to take multiple opponents seriously, armor up when he can, and leverage every advantage he can muster? Can they support the frequency of combat required to feel like pulp adventure without trivializing combat? Can it support powerful sorcery without the “Tiers of play/you have to change your game” nonsense that you get in level-based games?
Because if it can’t, there’s little reason to pick up another fantasy RPG. I want the “power increase” you see over Conan’s career and in other pulp and heroic fiction but want to avoid the Zero to Demigod progression of D&D, but still want to be able to run a Howardian- or Lieberesque-style dungeon crawl when desired. I want the heroic action of fantasy novels and movies where things can be high-fantasy yet still remain somewhat grounded ala swords-and-sandal, the 13th warrior, etc.
Can it do it? And if so, how well?
So, for those who have actually played/run Mythras or Runequest, can it deliver the goods for S-&-S heroic combat where even a combat master like Conan is going to take multiple opponents seriously, armor up when he can, and leverage every advantage he can muster? Can they support the frequency of combat required to feel like pulp adventure without trivializing combat? Can it support powerful sorcery without the “Tiers of play/you have to change your game” nonsense that you get in level-based games?
Because if it can’t, there’s little reason to pick up another fantasy RPG. I want the “power increase” you see over Conan’s career and in other pulp and heroic fiction but want to avoid the Zero to Demigod progression of D&D, but still want to be able to run a Howardian- or Lieberesque-style dungeon crawl when desired. I want the heroic action of fantasy novels and movies where things can be high-fantasy yet still remain somewhat grounded ala swords-and-sandal, the 13th warrior, etc.
Can it do it? And if so, how well?